Staff Attorney – Health Law Partnership

Atlanta Legal Aid Society seeks a Staff Attorney for the Health Law Partnership (“HeLP”). The project is a community-based medical-legal collaboration among Georgia State University College of Law, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. The project aims to improve the health and well-being of low-income children, who are patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, by coordinating services to address legal, social and economic conditions threatening their health.

Atlanta Legal Aid Society is a 75-lawyer non-profit law firm for low-income persons with civil problems. Legal Aid’s component of the HeLP project provides legal services to families of children in Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s three hospitals, Scottish Rite, Egleston, and Hughes Spalding; child patients seen in Children’s Clinics and physician offices that are part of the Clinically Integrated Network; and, children that are patients at the new Center for Advanced Pediatrics. Legal Aid lawyers are located in or at each of the three hospitals and at the Center for Advanced Pediatrics.

Duties: Attorneys represent clients in a variety of civil law problems affecting children’s health, including public benefits and health insurance, poor housing conditions, disability-related issues, family law matters, and access to appropriate educational services. Attorneys may provide brief service and advice, referral after legal assessment, self-help advice, or ongoing representation. Besides client intakes and legal representation of clients, the job requires coordination with and training of doctors, social workers, and other health care professionals; work with students in law, medicine, social work, public health, and bioethics; and participation in task forces and committees of other service providers.

Qualifications: Qualified candidates must have a juris doctor degree from an accredited law school, with 2 years of relevant legal experience preferred. Candidates must possess excellent legal writing, oral advocacy and work ethic. Ability to communicate effectively with children, families, doctors, social workers and hospital staff; ability to work alone and as a team member; eagerness to learn and openness to evaluation, and appreciation of diversity are required. A Georgia bar license or eligibility for the next exam is required. Qualifications preferred include demonstrated commitment to public service, participation in law school clinics, trial advocacy courses, familiarity with areas of poverty law, previous work with low-income persons and/or persons with serious diseases, and knowledge of health law, poverty law and children’s legal issues. Proficiency in Spanish and willingness to improve language skills is highly valued. The candidate selected will need to comply with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s health screening and immunization requirements.

Terms: The salary is commensurate with experience. Starting salary for an attorney in their third year of practice is $53,000. The program provides generous fringe benefits, including paid holidays, vacation, sick, and paid parental leave; health, life, and long and short-term disability insurance; partial payment for dependent health insurance; a 403(b) retirement plan with a program match; a salary reduction option for a flexible spending account; and educational loan reimbursement up to $600 per month (after a $65 deductible); CLE expenses; and Georgia Bar dues.

To apply: A complete application packet must include a letter of application, résumé, recent writing sample demonstrating your ability to perform legal research and analyze a fact pattern, the names and contact information (including e-mail addresses) of 3 legal references, and an official law school transcript. (A student copy is acceptable, pending your order of an official transcript.) Please send your application as one PDF document, using our online application system: